Indian students arrived in Bucharest in Romania in an Indian flags-hoisted bus. The tricolor, denoting harmony and equality, shielded their transport against the Russian atrocities. The flag allowed the students to cross the checkpoints without facing dire repercussions. One of the students aboard the buses holding the tricolor flag high shared his experience, "We were told in Ukraine that being Indians and carrying the Indian flag, we won't have any problems,". The purpose of heading towards Romania was to embark on evacuation flights sent by India under 'Operation Ganga'. The flights that had taken the evacuation responsibility included Air India, Spice Jet, and Indigo.
When any country is shrouded by warlike conditions, evacuating people stranded there becomes a very hard nut to crack. Ukraine is being torn apart by Russia’s so-called ‘ special military operation’. And when Indian students found it almost impossible to reach the market and acquire the essentials, the Indian embassy chalked out the plan. They affirmed that hoisting an Indian flag would ward off the possibility of being attacked by ex USSR nations.
"I ran to the market and brought some color sprays and curtains. I then cut the curtain and spray-painted it to make the Indian color," said a student who was also stranded and took on to the ‘tricolored’ mode of transport. But there were not only Indians who were rescued by the Indian flag. The group of stranded people also included some Pakistani and Turkish nationals. The ‘out of the box’ plan devised by the Indian embassy also provided a safe passage to non-Indian nationals as well.
"The Turkish and Pakistani students were also using the Indian flag. It helped them to get across checkpoints without hindrance," a student said. "We booked the bus from Odesa and came to the Molodova border. The Moldovan citizens were very nice. They provided us with free accommodation and taxis and buses to get to Romania," he added.
India has once again manifested its prowess by showing the entire world how smart planning can overcome dire circumstances, no matter how colossal it may seem. Apart from saving the lives of Indian nationals, the country, using its flag, took students from other countries also under its umbrella and bestowed them with a chance to fly away from the war zone.
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